The largest official collection of James Bond vehicles ever assembled — including a riot of Aston Martins — opens in London for the first time today.

Bond In Motion — formerly housed at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu but updated and revamped for its new home — transforms the entire London Film Museum in Covent Garden, giving visitors a close-up of thewide range of props that went into the making of the legendary films.

Key attractions at the exhibition, which will run throughout 2014, include Bond’s beautiful Aston Martin DB5 from the 1995 film Goldeneye, and two DBS models, one from the 2006 film Casino Royale (it legendarily rolled no fewer than seven times during a dramatic car chase), the other from 2008’s Quantum Of Solace. Aston Martin’s V12 Vanquish from Die Another Day (it starred in the “ice chase”, armed with rockets) is also on show.

Other famous vehicles include the “remote control” BMW 750iL from 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies, the BMWZ8 from 1999’s The World Is Not Enough, the Renault 11 TXE from 1985’s A View To A Kill, plus the stunning Ford Mustang Mach 1 that takes part in a furious car chase in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever... finally evading its pursuers when Sean Connery’s Bond drives it through a narrow gap between buildings on two wheels.

Famous wheels: actor David Walliams with the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger (Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty)
Other great exhibits include Q Branch’s crocodile submarine from 1983’s Octopussy, “Little Nellie”, the yellow gyrocopter from 1967’s You Only Live Twice, and the Q Boat that takes a dive out of the side of the MI6 building on the River Thames in The World Is Not Enough (1999).

An eye-catching 1/3 scale model of Agusta Westland’s battle scarred AW101 helicopter used during filming of 2012’s Skyfall is also on show, along with miniature models, action sequence boards, vehicle concept art and props from all of the James Bond films.

Other iconic vehicles that have become almost as well known as the Bond actors themselves, and that are on show, include “Wet Nellie”, the Lotus Esprit S1 “submarine” from the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, and the stunning black and yellow Rolls-Royce Phantom III from 1964’s Goldfinger.

This Sunday, Aston Martin will celebrate its link with 007 — and the new exhibition — by mounting a special display of its cars from 10am-4pm, at Covent Garden.

Together with the Aston Martin Owners Club, it will field a fleet of more than 30 Aston Martins, made up of a selection of classic and modern vehicles. Included in the display will be the firm’s own Vanquish from Die Another Day, one of the DBS models used in Casino Royale, and another from Quantum of Solace. I’ll be driving a sparkling new Rapide S — Aston Martin’s svelte six-litre V12 four-door sports car — to join the display, which will be arranged in the Covent Garden piazza near the museum in Wellington Street. See you there.

Tickets, and more information, from londonfilmmuseum.com. The exhibition will be open seven days a week from 10am-6pm (last entries 5pm) and to 7pm (last entries 6pm) on Saturdays.